BiographyRishi Manoharan is a mridangam artist based out of Mason, Ohio. He is currently a sophomore in William Mason High School. He is a disciple of Sri Vasudevan Namboodiri under whose tutelage he has learnt for the past six years. Currently, he is under the tutelage of Sri Trichur Narendran, who is a student of the legendary Palghat Raghu. Rishi is firmly based in the Thanjavur Parampara of Mridangam. His Baani has been influenced by artists like Palghat Raghu and Palghat Mani Iyer.
Along with mridangam, he also plays ghatam for concerts as well. He has played Ghatam along with his Guru for the past three years. He has had the blessing to accompany M. K. Sankaran Namboothiri, an A graded artist, on the ghatam along with his guru. He has accompanied several artists, both local and national, on mridangam and ghatam. Along with mridangam, he also plays cello and swims. He also has a deep interest in Indian Philosophy, specifically focusing on Sri Ramana Maharshi and the school of Advaita Vedanta. |
Guru Parampara
Rishi comes from the Thanjavur Parampara of Mridangam. This parampara was created and streamlined by Sri Thanjavur Vaidyanatha Iyer. His discples include doyens of mridangam like TK Murthy, Palghat Mani Iyer, more.
Rishi, specifically, comes from a direct lineage to Sri Palghat Mani Iyer. His first Guru, Sri Vasudevan Namboodiri, learned from three esteemed Gurus; Sri Trichur Narendran, Sri Palghat Rajamani, and Sri Mavelikkara Velukkutty Nair. Sri Palghat Rajamani and Sri Mavelikkara Velukkutty Nair were disciples of Sri Palghat Mani Iyer, with Sri Rajamani being his son. Sri Trichur Narendran was a disciple of Sri Palghat Raghu, a direct student of Sri Palghat Mani Iyer. Due to this, Rishi has the rare ability to combine various styles of mridangam accompaniment and solo patterns. He combines all of the different patterns in order to create a unique style of playing. Under the tutelage of Sri Trichur Narendran, Rishi is focusing on honing the Palghat Raghu Baani. Along with wide technical knowledge of the art of mridangam, he has also done research on the differences between the Pudukkottai and Thanjavur schools of mridangam, specifically analyzing thani patterns. Rishi also admires mridangam vidwans such as Sri Manoj Siva, Sri Karaikudi Mani, Sri Trichy Sankaran, and more. |